Door fastener



G. P. WILD Dec. 30, 1930.

Filed Aug. 27, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /N VEN TOR I i Patented Dec. 30, 179-30 reas TENT OFFICE DOOR FASTENER Application filed August 27, 1929. Serial No. 388,693.

This invention relates, generally stated, to door fasteners, especially latch mechanism, for refrigerator doors, cold storage room doors, and the like, as4 disclosed in my co- 5 pending application for Letters Patent Serial No. 244,568, filed January 5, 1928.

The leading object of the present invention is to provide adoor fastener orlatch mechanism of the character stated in which is com- .10 bined simplicity, cheapness, and efliciency of construction and in which a key is provided in contradistinction to arbolt and nut for retaining the spring pressed keeper in place.

A further object of the present invention is to; provide a structure of the character stated/in which the spring pressed keeper is retained in place .by meansy of an L-shapeol block. Y Y

Al further object of the present invention is to provide a kkeeper rod having a bevelled cylindrical head at one end and having a rectilinear portion at its opposite end, the intermediate portion of said rod being of reduced cross-sectional area. y.

yA still further object of the present invention is to provide a structure of the charactery stated in which the L-shaped key or block is provided upon its inner surface with a spring receiving groove arranged upon an arc of a circle. e 1

Other and further objects of the present invention reside in the general details of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts for attaining the results sought by the foregoing objects.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction hereinafter described and finally claimed.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown in the accompanying drawings one form thereof which is at present preferred by me, since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to vbe understood that the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists canbe variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

The nature, characteristic features and scope of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, and in which:

Fig. 1, is a sectional plan View of a latch mechanism embodying the invention.

Fig. 2, is a view in section taken upon the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3, is an end view of the keeper casing shown at the left hand side of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4, is a view in section taken upon the line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5, is a view in section taken upon line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6, is a view in side elevation of the keeper detached.

Fig. 7, is a view in shaped block. V

In latching mechanism of the class under discussion, it is customary to secure the spring pressed keeper against undue movement longitudinally considered by means of a bolt and nut connection. Due to the constant slamming of a refrigerator door to which akeeper of the character under discussion 1s usually applied, the bolt and nut connections become loosened and in fact sometimes Athe bolt is fractured and actually b roken olf. According to the present invention I obviate this defect by providing a novel keeper structure now to be described in detail.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 10 designates a door jamb and 11 designates a door as hinged thereto. F iXed to the door )amb 10 as by screws 12 is a casing 13. This casing 13 is provided with a longitudinal bore 14 the inner wall 15 of which bore is provided with an opening 16 for a purpose to presently appear. Arranged within the longitudinal bore 14 of the casing 13 is an endwise shiftable keeper 17 having bevelled portions 18. Extended longitudinally from the keeper 17 and preferably formed integral therewith, is a rod or bar 19, the outer end of which terminates in a relatively large head 20. That portion of the rod 19 arranged intermediate the keeper 17 and the perspective of the L- u respect to the casing`13fThe block22,

head 2O is cut away as at 21 for a purpose to presently appear. The head extends through an opening in the end of casing 13, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and-f1. Y Fitted to the opening through which works the keeper stem or rod, and arranged in parallelism Vwith the rod 19,' is block 22 of L-shaped cross section, best seen in Fig. 7; The purpose ofV this block 22 is to prevent lateral movement of the keeper as it moves longitudinally with which is L-shaped in cross section, comprises the vertical portion 23 and the horizontal portion 211. The vertical portion `234 is progvided with a recess 25 formed upon an arc of Y a 'circleV to Vreceive one end of a coil spring 26l which isarranged between the lkeeper 17 and said block 22 .and is coiled around the stem 19. VIn practice Ythe Yvertical portion 23 of the block 22 abuts against the inner wall of the casing 13 and the part 24 of the block veX'- tends through the opening in saidwall, as is best seen in Fig. 1'. VTheY cuti'away portion 21 of stemr19 vat its juncture with head 2() Y forms aV shoulder 27 which limits the inward movement of the keeper, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1. v Y

To assemble the above described parts the plunger, including its rodl and rectangular head, is inserted withiny Vthe casing 13. In

the connection it is to be noted that the opening at the rear of casing 13 isrsuiciently largel to permit of the introduction of the head 20 atl an yii'iclination so that the shoul- Vder 27 e may be -dropped downto engage the Vcarried by the door 11 and which cooperates with the keeper just describe'd-,fit is to be noted that the iiXed detent 28 is carried by an elongated plate 29, secured as at 30 to a door 11, the fixed detent 28 being secured to the plate 29 by means of rivets 31. I-Iaving hinged relation. with the plate 29 as at 32 is a movable detent 33, best seen in Fig. 1. rIfhe coil sp'ring34 is interposed between the plate 29 and the detent 33 in ordervnormally to maintain 4the detent 33 free from the nose of the keeper 17, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1j. The stop 35 and adjacent part of the movable detent form a hand grip 36 so that to open the door 11 the operator may grasp the Vpart 33 and pull outwardly upon the detent toV thus move the bevelledfend of the detent 33 linwardly to engage, ride over, and push outwardly the Y keeper 17 As y the keeper v17 moves to the left in Fig. 1 and as :the operator still pulls upon the'doo-r 11, the

iXed detent 28 rides koutwardly over the receding end of the keeper 17 and thus frees the door 11 for ready opening. As the keeper 17 moves to the left in Fig. 1 and the detent 33 moves around its pivot point, 'the f stop 37, which is preferably ormed'integral with the detent 3.3, abuts against thefixed dethe ,detent 33.

It is thought that theclosingoperation of the latching device will be readily apparentv withoutYV detail description. When the door 11,is`ii'n latched position, as seen in Fig. 1,

the ydoor may be opened from within a refrigerati'ng room or the likel by VVpushing upon the knobr35 of rod 38V to move outwardly the end 390i the Vmovable detent 33 and thus compress spring 26 and shift to the left in Fig. 1 thelkeeper 17 ,at which time thepin 37 abuts against the iXedfde'tent 28. The function of the stoppi'nis to arrest the detent movement afterits release .so as to .insure longer life to the coil spring as'the latter is apt to break if a too suddenstop action is imposed.

Ther above described arrangement, construction, connectionv and. combination .of partsfo'rms a very -ecient and inexpensive refrigeratingv latching mechanismY in'. which the spring pressed keeperis limited to'inward movementby means of the shoulder -27 and in which nuts, bolts, screws, and other securing -nie liums-Y are eliminated, thus Vguarding against the loosening of the bolts,'nuts Vand the likeandthe breaking oft thereof, the ad-A vantage of which is readily apparent.

' I am aware thatthe invention may be'embodied in other specific forms without depart ing from Y the spirit orV essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be VVconside-redV in all respects Y as illustrative and notrestrictive, reference being had t'o the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to vindicate the scope of the invention. Y A

What Iclaim as new, andjdesire to secure by Letters Patent,is;V

ktent 28, thereby limiting the movement of Y 1.r A latch device of the character Ystated comprising a casing having a relatively large rectilinear opening therein said casing being carried bya door j amb, a keeper the nose of which has opposed bevelled edges, the major part of said keeper vbeing mountedV within lsaid casing, a horizontally disposed/rod of y reduced` rectangular crosssection extended outwardly from said keeper `nose and Ypene trating said rectilinear' opening in said casing,.the extended endfof said rod having an u enlarged portion of rectilinear cross-section and having a shoulder for engaging the outer face of Ysaidcasi'ng to limit inward movement of said rod, means including a member o1 sub-v stantially L-shaped cross section the longitu dinal aXis of which is arranged in parallelism with the end of said rod through said relatively large opening in said casing for retaining said rod with respect to said casing, and a spring interposed between the inner end of said keeper nose and said means.

2. A latch device of the character stated comprising a casing having a relatively large rectilinear opening therein, said casing being carried by a door C{'amb, a keeper the nose of,

which has oppose bevelled edges, the maj or part of said keeper being mounted within said casing, a horizontally disposed rod of reduced rectangular cross-section extended outwardly from said keeper nose and penetrating said rectilinear opening in said casing, the extended end of said rod having an enlarged portion of rectilinear cross-section and having a shoulder for engaging the outer face of said casing to limit inward movement of said rod, means including a block of L- shaped cross section having its lower portion passing in parallelism with the end of said rod through said relatively large opening in said casing for retaining said rod with respect to said casing, and a spring interposed between the inner end of said keeper nose and said means.

3. A latch device of the character stated comprising a casing having a relatively large rectilinear opening therein said casing being carried by a door j amb, a keeper the nose of which has opposed bevelled edges, the major part of said keeper being mounted within said casing, a horizontally disposed rod of reduced rectangular cross-section extended outwardly from said keeper nose and penetrating said rectilinear opening in said casing, the extended end of said rod having an enlarged portion of rectilinear cross-section and having a should-er for engaging the outer face of said casing to limit inward movement of said rod, meansincluding a block of L- Y shaped cross section having its lower portion passing in parallelism with the end of said rod through said relatively large opening in said casing for retaining said rod-:with respect to said casing, the rear vertical wall of said block having a groove therein formed v upon an arc oi a circle to receive the end of a coiled spring, and a spring interposed between the inner end of said keeper nose and said means.

4. A latch device of the character stated, comprising a casing having a relatively large Y polygonal opening therein said'casing being carried by aldoor jamb, a bolt the nose ci' which has opposed bevelled edges, the major part of said boltbeing mounted within said casing, a horizontally disposed rod of reduced polygonal cross-section extended outwardly Vrom said bolt and positioned in said polygonal opening in said casing, the extended end of said rod having an enlarged head thereon,'and having an inner shoulder for engaging the outer face of said casing to limit 

